Connecticut and the District of Columbia were removed from Chicago's travel advisory, city officials announced Tuesday, marking the only locations to not be listed under the "orange" category of the travel guidance.
Last week, the advisory was updated to include every U.S. state, making Vermont the final location to be added to the city's warning list, which recommends unvaccinated travelers from such locations test negative for COVID-19 and quarantine.
In its previous update, city officials noted that two states – New Hampshire and Connecticut – as well as the District of Columbia, saw their case rates fall below the threshold, but they were not yet removed from the advisory as they needed to keep their levels low for two consecutive weeks.
New Hampshire remained on the list Tuesday, however.
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"I'm happy to say that we do have two states, well technically one state - Connecticut, and then D.C., Washington D.C. - that have now come off the travel advisory," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said during a Facebook Live Tuesday announcing the changes. "So the rest of the country is still on, but it's nice to see a little bit of progress. Connecticut is one of the most vaccinated areas, and so hopefully we'll continue to see states turn yellow on this map."
States are added to the advisory's "orange list" when COVID metrics rise above the threshold of 15 cases per day per 100,000 people. Any below that mark are on the "yellow" list, with public health officials still warning against non-essential travel.
Just before the Labor Day, the city also updated its guidance for what unvaccinated travelers visiting or returning from such locations should do, adding new testing and quarantining recommendations before and after travel.
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"Reminder that if you are unvaccinated, you know, we're advising against travel to any orange state and if you are unvaccinated you should be testing before travel after travel and right now even quarantining, even if you have a negative test after traveling," Arwady said.
According to the city, before travel, unvaccinated individuals should:
- Get tested 3-5 days prior to departure.
While traveling:
- ALL individuals regardless of vaccination status should wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States and while indoors at U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations.
- In Chicago, wear a mask in all indoor public settings, regardless of vaccination status.
- Avoid crowds, try to stay at least 6 feet/2 meters (about 2 arm lengths) from anyone who is not traveling with you, and wash your hands often or use hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol).
After travel, unvaccinated individuals should:
- Get tested with a viral test 3-5 days after travel AND stay home and self-quarantine for a full 7 days.
- Even if you test negative, stay home and self-quarantine for the full 7 days.
- If your test is positive, isolate yourself to protect others from getting infected.
- If you don’t get tested, stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel.
- Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days, whether you get tested or not.
The city advised all travelers to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms and isolate and get tested if they develop any after travel.
"We have seen and know that travel is a significant risk factor for acquiring COVID," Arwady said. "If you decide not to get tested, the recommendation is actually to stay home and self quarantine for 10 days after travel, and you should avoid being around anybody who has an increased risk for severe COVID outcomes for 14 days after travel regardless of whether you get tested or not. Obviously we want anybody who's traveling to self monitor for COVID symptoms and get tested if you develop symptoms."
This week's update to the travel advisory comes at a time when the average daily number of new cases in Chicago is down to 433 per day - a 10% decrease over the previous week, according to city data Tuesday.
That figure is still more than 12 times the low of 34 that the city saw in late June but remains lower than the more than 700 cases per day the city was seeing during the most recent surge earlier this year.
Hospitalizations in Chicago are down 30% from the previous week and deaths are flat from the week prior, per the city's data. The positivity rate in testing is down to 3.7% this week, a drop from 4.2% in the last week.
Arwady noted last month that about 99% of new COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated individuals.
States and Territories on the advisory include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The travel advisory will be updated every Tuesday, with any changes taking effect the following Friday.
